Spokes, Matthew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6456-3879 and Denham, Jack ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2539-8292 (2026) Spatialising Failure in Videogames: A Novel Approach to Agency and Enjoyment. Space and Culture. (In Press)

Preview	Text Spatialising Failure - Spokes and Denham.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (372kB) | Preview
	Text Spatialising Failure - Spokes and Denham.docx - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (69kB) Request a copy

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel framework that examines failure at the intersection of space, agency, and enjoyment; we argue that failure is a form of agentic, spatialised play rather than a mere negative outcome, and is routinely shared as a community-building practice. Using the survival game The Long Dark as a primary case study, we analyse developer interviews to demonstrate how game environments function as containers for meaningful struggle. The research illustrates why players may find enjoyment in "doing badly", and how this relationship functions reciprocally; as developers release episodic updates, they recontextualise game spaces in response to player feedback and the community's desire for challenging, "vulnerability-driven" experiences. The paper closes by contributing the framework for failure as an opportunity for future empirical research on games where struggle and loss are an integral design choice.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/15980

University Staff: Request a correction | RaY Editors: Update this record